It is disappointing what gets picked up in New. Dang's second chance pool etc are a great way to address it, but the New tab upvotes prioritize controversy and "hot" topics over substantial ones. Here are my last 25 submissions, please guess which ones made it to the front page,

The Romeo File (1997) (newyorker.com)
1 point by areoform 17 hours ago | past | discuss

A Review of “So You Want Your Child to Be a Genius?” (plos.org)
2 points by areoform 2 days ago | past | discuss

Hollywood and hyper-surveillance: the story of Gorgon Stare (2019) (nature.com)
52 points by areoform 5 days ago | past | 17 comments

Should We Open Some Sealed Apollo Moon Samples? (space.com)
1 point by areoform 8 days ago | past | discuss

Flashback: Bob Dylan Performs at the 1963 March on Washington (rollingstone.com)
2 points by areoform 9 days ago | past | discuss

Onesimus (wikipedia.org)
1 point by areoform 10 days ago | past | discuss

NSFW: Someone at Osama Bin Laden's Compound Sure Loved Anime (gizmodo.com)
3 points by areoform 12 days ago | past | 1 comment

In a Murderous Frame of Mind (washingtonpost.com)
2 points by areoform 16 days ago | past

Did the NSA Help Russia Target Dudayev? (1997) (free.fr)
1 point by areoform 19 days ago | past

IBM and the Holocaust (wikipedia.org)
55 points by areoform 19 days ago | past | 11 comments

Kettering Bug (wikipedia.org)
2 points by areoform 22 days ago | past

Mason Jar (wikipedia.org)
3 points by areoform 22 days ago | past

An Economic Analysis of Liquidity-Saving Mechanisms [pdf] (newyorkfed.org)
1 point by areoform 22 days ago | past

Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience. Simulations and Image Processing (nasa.gov)
1 point by areoform 24 days ago | past

[dupe] Nintendo's use of surveillance and private investigators to target modders (twitter.com/eclipse_tt)
264 points by areoform 26 days ago | past | 112 comments

Pan-American Highway (wikipedia.org)
4 points by areoform 26 days ago | past

Sonic Hedgehog (Genetics) (wikipedia.org)
1 point by areoform 28 days ago | past

When California Went to War over Eggs (smithsonianmag.com)
2 points by areoform 28 days ago | past

What Happens to All Those Letters Sent to Santa? (smithsonianmag.com)
4 points by areoform 29 days ago | past

Paul Baran and the Origins of the Internet (rand.org)
4 points by areoform 30 days ago | past

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow (rollingstone.com)
15 points by areoform 32 days ago | past | 17 comments

FSB Officer Inadvertently Confesses Murder Plot to Navalny (bellingcat.com)
1 point by areoform 34 days ago | past

Can You Hypnotize a Chicken? (smithsonianmag.com)
2 points by areoform 34 days ago | past

Designing with Fluid Type Scales (utopia.fyi)
1 point by areoform 35 days ago | past

I Stole Gram Parsons’ Body (loudersound.com)
1 point by areoform 35 days ago | past

Some of the most interesting submissions never saw the light of day. The "I Stole Gram Parsons' Body" story is bizarre in a very HN way. An economic analysis of liquidity saving mechanisms explains how the modern economic payment system works. The Romeo File goes into an interesting facet of espionage history where the stasi targeted secretaries with "Romeos" to send information to the USSR. A practice that has reverberations to this day. When California Went to War over Eggs is a bizarre story about protein at the early west.

However, none of these received any interest. Which is frustrating. I try to share interesting things I find on HN, but it feels horrible to find something cool that you wish to share with the world and watch it slip into the endless void.

Unless, the submission generates outrage. Such as the Nintendo story. Or, IBM and the holocaust. Or, the Gorgon Stare. That's what makes it to the front page. It is soul crushing to know that interesting stories about the time there was a very literal war over eggs won't get as much attention as these clickbaity things. Which leads to a natural conclusion, the reason why the internet is so crap in general is because people like things that make them rage or feel strong emotions, and they reward it.

Dang's inbox is always open, but it feels needy and depressing to email him repeatedly "Hey, I submitted something great, have a look?" I wish there was some way to fix this problem.

You can see my submissions here, https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=areoform